Drying apparatus for railway-ties.



w. P. GOLTRA. A DRYING APPARATUS FOR RAILWAY TIES APPLIOATIONHLED JANLz.1912. f, Y

Patented Deo. 17, 1912.

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. APPLICATION FILED mlm, 1912. f l f i 1,047,406. Patented Dec. 17,1912.

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W. P. GORRA. l DRYINGMAPPARMIUAS Foa RAILWAY TIES.

" APLIOIATIO'N FILED JAN. 2, 1912.

f- 4 PatntedDec. 17,1911

6 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

:um auvent@ WW@ WXI'ZGorm/ W.k F. GOLTRA. DRYING ABPARATUS FOB RAILWAYTIES.

' APYLIOATION rum) JN. z. 1912.

f "Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

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Juventor. WfF-,Gokn Y rlp haar www .flttyi llttes W $0 W. F'GOLTRA.DRYING APPARATUS FOR RALWAY TIES.`

APIPLIOATION FILED JAN. 2, 1912.

"Patented Dec. l?, 1912.

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Nnweser @www a my@ W. I'. GOLTRA.

`DRYING APPARATUSPOR RAILWAY TIES.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 2, 1912. Patented Dec. 1'?, 1912.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

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" T all bers, and the invention consists more espe- UNITED STATES PATENTQFFIGE.

WILLIAM FRANCIS GOLTRA, 0F CLEVELAND, OHIO.

DRYING APBRHTUS FOR RAILWAY-TIES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

Application filed January 2, 1,912. Serial No. 668,916.

apparatus cially in a drying oven of original construction andassociated means adapted tto circulate air at a drying temperaturethrough the oven, all as hereinafter fully described land particularlypointed out in the claims.,

In the accompanyiiig drawings, Figure l 1s a longitudinal sectionalelevation of the apparatus, and Fig. 1s a cross section on line 2 2,Fig. 1, and showing two ovens arranged side by side. rIhere may be oneor severaltovens, according to vthe size or capacity of the plant, butall,are alike and adapted to ,ing

have ,theira own complete eqnipments and be operated separately orsimultaneously according to the amount of work to be'done. F ig. 3 is across section corresponding substantially to line 3 3, Fig. 1, Fig. 4 isa cross section corresponding substantially to line 4 4,

Fig. 1, but omitting the tram shown in Fig.

1 as carrying a load of timbers. Figf is a cross section substantiallyon the line 5 5, Figfl, looking to the left.. Fig. (i is a horizontalsectional plan on a line corresponding substantially to 6 6, Fig. 1, andwhich runs through the immediate bottoni of the dry- Fig, 7 is a crossSection corresponding substantially to 7 7, Fig. 8, looking inward. Fig.8 isa horizontal sectional view corresponding substantially to line 8 8,Fig. 7 but omitting the blower-.and drum shown in Fig. 7. 4

The drying apparatus as thus shown is a portion of a plant or systemwhich I have developed for treating timber and particularl railway ties,and which consti-tutes the .subJect matter of two companionapplications', bearing Sei'. Nos. 608,914 and `(368,915, respectively.

The present application appertains exclusively 4to that portion of thesaid system which receives the ties or timber after they have beenpreviously `steamed and dried cylinders directly over the tracks there`and otherwise made ready'for ultimate drying .and treatment ashereinafter set forth.

As to the importance of this particular apparatus and step inthetreatment of the timber by my method it is to be observed that themoisture content in timber has` a very appreciable effect upon the way1n which it lends itself to filling with the preservative, and anymethod which places the wood in suoli condition that it will be inapproximately the same state of dryness throughout is bound to result ina much more uniform penetration and dissemination of the antiseptic thancan be obtained Where such favorable conditions do not exist. Theuniformity with which the preservative "is distributed through the woodis one of the cardinal principles of proper wood preservy in'g work, andsince open air-seasoning is 4not in itself found sutlicient to insure asatisfactory preparation of the wood for 'chemical treatment the dryingmust necessarily be artificially completed.

It is to be further observed that the placing` Aof the timber in dryingovens is not only for the purpose of completing the drying but has twoother important objects; iirst, because it permits a perfect regularityof operations at ,the plant in all seasons of the 'year and in all kindsof Weather; and, secondly, because the timberthus dried is prepared togo to the impregnating retort in a heated state and thus is also giventhe temperature of the impregnating fluid as it is run into theretorts.l Consequently the penetration of said fluid is deeper and moreperfect than it couldotherwise be, especially if the Wold were cold whenimpregnation, begins. Iluring the winter season in northernlatitudes-itis frequent-ly necessary to closel down impregnating works on account ofties being covered with ice and snow.. When such ties are placed in theimpregnatingl retort for treatment. the warm vim-- pregnating iiuid ischilled and congealed and, in consequence, thc penetration is veryslight. Again, ties exposed to the Weather immediately prior totreatment are often drenched by heavy rains and absorb considarablewater. This offsets, in a great measure, they open air seasoning andmakes it quito impossible to obtain good results from such .seasoningalone. But with drying ovens it is possible to get uniform conditionspreparatory to antiseptic treatment and also 60 size and length adaptedto receive a line of to hurry the seasoning of any timber which must becarefully regulated throughout the rently affected by the sametreatment.

entire process or warping and checking are almost certain to result.Also wood of different shapes and thicknesses is very differ- Finally,the tissues composing the wood differing in form and physical propertiesas they do, and crossing each other in various directions, eXerttheirown peculiar influence upon the behavior of wood d ring the drying. Forinstance, with our rative woods, summerwood and springwoodsnow distinctltendencies in drying, and lthesame is true, in a less degree, ofheartwood"and sapwood. Or, again, pronounced medullar rays furthercomplicate the drying prob em. Thus,

l some woods yield their moisture more read- A ily than others, so thatthe time for drying differs widely with the species as well as with theintended use.

The rapidity with which the drying can be carried on after the materialhas received a preliminary steaming therefore depends upon severalfactors, such as species of the Wood, its softness and porosity,proportion of heartwood and sapwood, its .hardness or density, size,mass, -intended use and the manner in which it i's presented to the airin' the ovens. No positive rule can therefore be given I as to theduration ofthe drying period and the temperature for the various kindsof woods, under all conditions, but experience soon teaches the operatorhow rapidly the ties or lumber can be dried in the ovens withoutinjuring it bysplitting, checkmg that it is necessary to separate thetimbers into groups for drying in ovens beyond ness varies on account ofthe factors' above mentioned, and such ties ortimbers as have firstreached totality of dryness shouldv wait in the ovens for the morerefractoryytimbers.'

The time required in the' oven to complete the dryingV of railroad tieswhich have undergone t e several preparatory steps of my process isbetween eighteen and thirty hours, or an average' of twenty-four hours.

Now, having reference again to the drawings herewith,`the combineddrying and heating ovens are indicated by2 and are preferably built ofcement and masonry and of 4a trams 3 on tracks 4'in the bottom of theovens. I prefer to make the ovens substantially in the form of cylindersand of .alength corresponding to the length of the warping orhoneyc'olnbing. It should. not, however, be inferred from the aboveimpregnating retorts, not shown, so that the trams can b e transferredfrom oven to retort to colitlnue the treatment without 'materiallydisturbing the preparation of the timber for chemical impregnation.

The ovens and their rails or tracks are preferably on the yard grade,and this brings the means for heating and controlling the air circulatedthroughl the ovens underground or in subterranean spaces or compartmentsbeneath the ovens substantially as seen in Fig. 1. The said means'may bebriefly summarized as comprising devices for heating' a volume of air tothe desired temperature for each oven and f or drawing the moistureladen air down andout through sub-ducts and chambers by means of asuitable fan or blower 5 Fig. 4. Said blower is confined in drum orcasing 6 and discharges through stack 7 to the open air. This, however,does not take account of the various I Thus,I the air enters at thefront of the apparatus through afresh air space 9 and' passes thence tothe space 11 from which it is drawn into the heating chamber 8containing the steam radiating coils 10 and to which the steam.issupplied from a boiler belonging to the system, not shown. The spaceor passage llis common to all the heating chambers 8, and valves are ofcourse provided for' governing the flow of steam through'the coils 10and which also controlthe volume of heat imparted to the inflowing air.The air being heatedby said coils flows thence to the open space 12 inthe top and rear of the coil chamber and thence into the oven throughthe grated openingor re ister 13 in the bottom and front thereof.uitab'le steam headers 14 and a trap 15 are shown in Fig. 1, and also across section of a Working space or gallery 16, extending across the`series of heating chambers so that one man can attend to all.of them.

The heated air having/ entered an oven 0 1 gallery, it` travels-thenceunder suction or draft at the rear through the loads or charges of tiesor timbers on the trams.

Fig. 5,'to the exit opening 18jin the rear and bottom thereof yand downthrou h the moist air or exhaust duct 2O into tie space 21 from 4whichit is Withdrawn by the fan or va slidin damper 23 for said opening issuspended y cable 24 run-ning over sheaves and which is controlled by acounterweight -25 in the Working gallery 16, while a damper 2G isprovided at the ent-rance 12 to the i open space .in the top of eachheating chamber 8 to regulate the inflow of air to its respective oven2. Thus, by means of said dampers and the speed ofthe blower thetemperature and velocity of the air is regulated. VThe compartment orspace 21 eX- 'tends transversely beneath all the ovens and be about 95'is open alike to ally the ducts 20 in the series through the separateopenings 22.

The free air space between the loads and the walls of the ovens is 4onlysulicient for clearance, say about two or three inches,

The length of the drying ovens may of` course vary but the standard sizeis such as to accommodate twelve tram loads of eight foot ties, or say atotal length of approximately one hundred feet, each tram carrymg 45 to50 ties or about 560 per charge.

Suitably heavy steel doors are provided at the entrance of each oven,and lsections 32 of the tram tracks 4 are removable i to enable saiddoors to swing on their hinges to open and closed positions. This is'necesv sary because the doors close the ends of the ovens on a planebeneath said tracks.

A door 33 is shown between the fan room and the space 16 across thefront of theseveral heating. chambers.

In Fig. 1 damper 26 which is adapted to close the passage 12 at the rearof cach heating chamber 8, has a handle- 27 and segment therefor serveto fix the adjustments of said damper.

In thc basement of each oven between passage ll and gallery 16, I employa steel.

front with a series of swingingdoors 28,

one for each oven and its heater 8, and there are also small cast irondoors 29 in the wall 31, between the working gallery and the moist airgallery. These doors are for the purpose of Ventilating the crossgalleries and one of the doors ill may be large enough 'By opening twoor more doors a current of fresh air can be made to pass through theworking gallery 1G into the moist air-collcction gallery 21.

'lhe operationl herein involves the final drying of railroad ties andother timbers preparatory to their heilig impregnated with apreservative, and the object is to get uniform and complete drying. 'l`othis end the timbers are placed suitably upon trams and run into thecylinders in which they are exposed to drying-means involving thecirculation of heated air through the said cylinders and the saidtimbers, which are placed upon the trams in such way as to 'expose eachtimber or tie on all sides tothe heated air and passage. Air is admittedthrough the various channels as herein clearly described and traced andflows thence under pressure into the said cylinders and is eX- haustedwith such load of moisture @as may become omitted in the process ofdrying, suitable fans or blowers being used for this purpose. A number.of trams with their loads are placed in each cylinder according to thelength of the cylinders, and the operation continues as long as there isany evidence of moisture being absorbed. When this ceasesthe dryingoperation is regarded as finished and the timbers' are ready for thenext step which is not within this application.

What I claim is:

1. In a system of drying and treating 'timbers with antisepticsolutions, an appa-- ratus adapted to prepare the timbers for thesolution consisting of a substantially cylindrical oven provided withdraft openings in the bottom and ends thereof and tracks for trams inits bottom, in combination with sub-compartments beneath said ovencomprising an air heating chamber having its discharge through vthefront opening into said oven, an air supply space in advance of saidheating chamber and a damper to control the flow of air through saidchamber, an exhaust duct leading downward from the rear opening in theoven, a draft compartment next to said duct and a draftdampercontrolling the passage of the air from said duct to said compartment,and a rotary exhaust fan arranged in a sub-compartment relatively at oneside of said oven and communicating with said draft compartment andadapted to carry the moisture laden at- -mosphere away from theapparatus.

2. In timber drying apparatus, a series vof parallel cylindrical ovens,each having tracks therein and air exhaust lengthwise thereof front torear and Jointly provided with a transverse fresh-an' inlet passage attheir front and a transverse working gallery behind said ovens, atransverse moist air gallery for all said ovens walled apart behind saidworking gallery, and an exhaust fan communicating with said exhaustgallery.

3. In a timber drying and treating system, a drying and heatingapparatus comprising a plurality ofdrying ovens of substantiallycylindrical shape and arranged side by side on the yard grade, tracks insaid cylinders and front and rear bottom openings 13 and,

18 in eacbvcylinder, a compartment beneath the front ofeach oven to heatair and arranged to discharge through said opening 13, a duct 20 foreach cylinder communicating with each rear opening 18, a chamber 2lcommon to all said ducts andSepa-rated therefrom by a Wall havingopenings 22 in its bottom, Aa slide damper 23 for each open- 'with saidchamber, a Working compartment 16 extending across the rear of saidheating compartments, and mea-ns to control the flow yof air to saidcompartments. A10

In testimony whereof I affix my signatur in presenceof tWo Witnesses. I

WILLIAM FRANCIS GOLTRA.

Witnesses:

F. C. MUssUN,- E. M. FISHER.

